Their hands were intertwined, and Utena did not need to look over to feel Anthy's smile, small and shy and yet full of meaning. The other girl was like another half of her, one that she didn't realize she missed until the days they had to be apart. Anthy's touch, which once had been a shocking revelation, was now as familiar as breathing. Sometimes Utena wondered what the world would have been like if she hadn't tried to be a prince, which meant she hadn't challenged Saionji to a duel when he had been so cruel to Wakaba, which meant she hadn't 'won' Anthy the Rose Bride, which meant all the other frankly awful things that happened wouldn't have happened. She thought about how long she had spent both loving Akio and trying to be him, only to find out her was not at all the kind of chivalrous prince she had imagined. And all the...things...that they had done, that Akio had convinced her to do because he loved her, would they have happened? The thought that lingered on her mind with Anthy's hand in hers was that she didn't care. Whatever happened, it brought her to Anthy. They were meant to be together-it was destiny. Perhaps she didn't really believe in destiny anymore, but it was something that she thought that no matter how many strands of how many worlds were pulled apart, at the center it would always be Utena and Anthy. They were linked, forever. Utena turned to look at her friend, her love, her Bride, and when she did, she saw Anthy's body stabbed with hundreds of swords, just as it had during the duels, only to Utena's horror, Anthy's mouth was open in a silent scream as blood pooled out of her small body, blood dripping from her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. Utena jumped to her feet, her heart racing and her stomach so clenched she thought she would be sick. "ANTHY!" she screamed, reaching for her, only for her body to fly in the air, fly away from her, stuck to the ground with tears streaming down her face. Her arms reached, but could touch nothing and the pain felt unbearable.
Utena awoke with a start, her heart pounding just as it had in her dream. She looked around her, safe in her bed, in Vallo. And alone-as alone as she had ever been. She let out a long breath, willing herself to be calm. Not only was it all just a dream, but she didn't understand why she had felt so terrified of Anthy being away from her. It had been months since she had left the Academy, trying to find herself. She knew Anthy would look for her, and she was certain she would see her again once school started. But instead of a new, normal, every day school year, she had arrived in a foreign place. In many ways, Vallo already had a feeling of home-but not, unfortunately, in the sense it felt familiar and safe. Instead, much like school had over the last year, it felt like the buzz that was in the air before a duel, alive with eyes all over you. Magic, other worldly, confusing magic that no one explained and yet could not be denied. No one explained fully who or why or how she arrived, but it seemed that, much like the dueling palace in the sky, no one really knew the full or whole story. But Utena needed to be brave. Maybe she gave up trying to be Akio, but that didn't mean she gave up her quest to be a real prince. Maybe she could be that at Vallo, as she never could at home. What time was there but the present? She opened the device she had gotten from the people in the Outlander department when she arrived and started to scroll. She read, she clicked, she searched. There had to be some way to connect, to find what her purpose was here, and what she needed to do to be a prince. But soon her tired body complained, and her eyes were strained, and she was no closer to any answers than she was an hour ago. She sighed and put it down.
Maybe it meant she needed to find others. And that, she thought with a tired sigh, would have to be a job for tomorrow.